Aeration of stagnant ponds of water is desirable to promote growth of fish and prevent growth of algae and/or fungus. A portable aerating apparatus has not been designed heretofore for stagnant or slow moving, shallow bodies of water.
The aerating apparatus proposed heretofore are not adapted for use in shallow bodies of water such as fish ponds. Some aerators discharge an air-water mixture downwardly into the body of water immediately adjacent the location of introduction of air into a moving water stream and hence do not promote the type of aeration needed for shallow fish ponds. For example, see U.S. Pat. No. 3,640,516. Other disadvantages of the prior art include the introduction of air into the water upstream from the pump which results in erratic discharge of an air-water mixture. Other systems proposed heretofore are not practical for use with shallow fish ponds and/or are complicated by the manner in which air is introduced at the distributor head. For example, see U.S. Pat. No. 3,271,304 wherein the aerating apparatus is particularly designed for a confined body of water.
The present invention is directed to apparatus for aerating shallow bodies of water and includes a pump having an inlet and an outlet. A first conduit has one end connected to the pump outlet and its other end is connected to a valve means for introducing air and/or chemicals into a flowing stream of water moving in a downward direction toward liquid level. A means is provided for supporting the valve means at an elevation above water level.
A DISTRIBUTION CONDUIT MEANS COMMUNICATES WITH THE FIRST CONDUIT DOWNSTREAM FROM THE VALVE MEANS AND HAS A GREATER FLOW CAPACITY THAN SAID FIRST CONDUIT FOR RECEIVING WATER, AIR AND/OR CHEMICALS THEREFROM. A submersible distributor head is connected to the distribution conduit means. The distributor head has a chamber provided with an inlet and an outlet. The chamber inlet is at an elevation below the elevation of the chamber outlet. The chamber outlet is substantially smaller in size as compared with the chamber inlet.
The apparatus of the present invention is particularly designed so as to be portable so that it may be used to aerate and/or add chemicals to shallow bodies of water. Aeration of the water has a direct effect on algae and fungus as well as a direct effect on improving the growth rate of fish. The apparatus in the present invention is simple, easy to operate, and inexpensive while being versatile in its capability of use with shallow bodies of water.
The above objects and other objects will be apparent from the disclosure set forth hereinafter.